Machine Against the Stage: Authorities Target Edgy Theater Director

One of the most iconic images of
Stalin’s terror is a photograph of Vsevolod Meyerkhold, one of
Russia’s 20th century most famous theater directors, moments after
he was arrested in 1939. Many assumed it would be the last time a
Moscow theater director was led into a car by masked men and driven
away for interrogation.

On Tuesday, May 23, however, it
happened again. This time, the man being led away was Kirill
Serebrennikov, Russia’s award-winning theater and film director.

“I am in shock and
do not understand [what is going on],” Serebrennikov told the
assembled cameras.

Masked men arrived at dawn at
Serebrennikov’s home. Later, a similar group arrived at Gogol
Center, the theater he runs. A rehearsal was interrupted. Actors and
staff had their phones confiscated. Men with guns searched the
theater.

One actor told Russian media he felt as
if he had been held “by terrorists” during the raid.

Dark Times

These are strange times for Russian
theater. On the one hand, state-sponsored conservatism, censorship
and the growing influence of the Russian Orthodox Church have led to
plays being shut down and theaters threatened.

On another hand, never before has the
Moscow theater scene been so popular.

Serebrennikov, 47, is at the cutting
edge of this renaissance. In 2012, he was appointed to run the Gogol
Center by Moscow culture minister Sergey Kapkov. Under
Serebrennikov’s leadership, the Gogol Center became Moscow’s most
exciting cultural hub.

At least initially, Moscow’s hottest
director was not averse to working with authorities. In 2011, he
staged Okolonolya, attributed to the Kremlin’s then powerful gray
cardinal Vladislav Surkov.

But the theater’s launch sparked
several protests organized by ultra-Orthodox activists who sent
letters to prosecutors saying they were offended by nudity and
obscene language in Serebrennikov’s plays. As time passed, the
director became embroiled in open conflict with the Culture Ministry.

A rebel emerged. Serebrennikov
supported protests against Putin’s presidency in 2011. He advocated
LGBT rights and even called Russia’s annexation of Crimea the act
of “an impoverished thug who has lost his mind.”

His controversial film The Student,
which explored matters of indoctrination, won the Francois Chalais
prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

One year on, in the very week that the
festival re-opens on the French Riviera, Serebrennikov finds himself
being taken away by masked men.

Serious Blow

The raids on Serebrennikov’s theater
were more serious than any of the troubles Russian theater has faced
recently.

During the raid, Russia’s law
enforcement said it was investigating the embezzlement of government
art funding. They alleged a number of people had stolen 200 million
rubles [US$3.5M] between 2010 and 2014.

The state funds in question were
allocated to a production company created and run at that time by
Serebrennikov. The company’s former director and accountant were
also detained. As of May 24, Serebrennikov was not officially charged
with any criminal activity and remains a witness in the case.

Aside from the theater and the
director’s apartment, police searched 15 other addresses they say
are connected to the case. The raids were reportedly conducted
without a court warrant, under an “emergency measures” law of the
Russian criminal code.

It is straightforward enough for
authorities to build criminal cases around the use of public funds.
Many assume serious public action by law enforcement agencies is not
always what it seems, and is triggered by behind the scenes political
or financial interests.

Authorities have maintained the raids
were apolitical. But while Serebrennikov was kept for interrogation
for a few hours without contact — an extended procedure even by the
standards of Russian politics — Moscow’s art world struggled to
understand what was happening.

Unlike businessmen or bureaucrats,
Russian artists rarely end in jail for embezzlement or corruption.
Some wondered whether Serebrennikov’s detention was instead a
signal to other top-officials, perhaps within the culture ministry.

This does not appear to be the case
here, a source close to the government suggested to The Moscow Times:
The target is most likely Serebrennikov himself.

Final Act

Heavily dependent on state handouts,
Russia’s cultural elite generally avoids politics. This time it was
different.

Responding to a call to rally, dozens
of leading Russian artists, journalists and fans turned up at the
theater to protest the raids. Among attendees was celebrity film
director Fedor Bondarchuk, a member of the ruling “United Russia”
party, who has never been seen at protest rallies before.

“Serebrennikov is
the pride of Russia. We cannot not react to this,” Bondarchuk told
crowds outside the theater.

A letter signed by Russia’s actors
and directors in support of Serebrennikov was read out by actress
Chulpan Khamatova. “We all know him as an honest and open person,”
it said. The next day, the Bolshoi’s director, Vladimir Urin, wrote
a letter to Putin in defense of Serebrennikov.

Journalist and culture analyst Yuri
Saprykin told The Moscow Times that the theater has “many”
enemies. “There was pressure on the Gogol Center from the start,”
he said.

In its five years of staging daring
performances, the Gogol Center had survived numerous threats. But
with Serebrennikov’s interrogation, some fears the edgy theater’s
days might be numbered.